Review - Picasso at the Lapin Agile - People's Theatre

Picasso at the Lapin Agile 

People's Theatre

3rd March, 2026

A play with an intriguing title, staged in the People's Theatre studio, was always going to be something a little bit different. When you then add the writer - Steve Martin - it becomes a little bit more different.

The stage is set as a bar - with the audience on two sides. The front rows are cafe tables - and throughout the play characters come over to address members of the audience - at times acknowledging that they are, in fact,  in a play. 

Set in the Lapin Agile bar in Paris at the beginning of the 20th Century, the play centres around the meeting (as imagined by the writer) of two geniuses (genii?) Einstein and Picasso. Both at the beginning of their careers, both experts in their very different fields: Picasso the artist and Einstein the scientist. They see the world in different ways. They clash. 

As they argue and theorize about the world and the universe, other characters add their own views - sometimes relevant, sometimes not! Freddie (Ian Willis) the owner of the bar is intent on getting his customers to pay their bar bills - few do. Gaston (Jim Boylan), a regular customer bemoans the aging process and the limitations it brings to life. Suzanne (Helen Doyle) a young American besotted with and seduced by Picasso, is entranced by his charm and fame, and foolish enough to think that she is the only one. Sagot (Matthew Shepherd), Picasso's agent, drops the monetary value of art into the conversation at every opportunity. His interest is purely financial - the beauty of the art is measured by how much he can make from it. While these characters make their observations and spout their views, Germaine, (Rhiannon Wilson) the waitress cuts through them all - speaking the truth and undercutting their egocentricity - no-one escapes her attention, especially not Picasso. 

As the characters come and go, Picasso and Einstein continue to argue over the nature of beauty and the universe - who captures it best - the artist or the scientist? It would seem they may come to blows - and yet in the end, with the help of a visitor they come to see the beauty of the stars together. 

As you'd perhaps expect from Steve Martin, the humour is quirky. There are some hilarious one liners,  and some very strange juxtapositions (not least the premise that Einstein and Picasso might meet in a bar). At times it is difficult to follow - the characters philosophize and theorize one moment and tell bad jokes the next. The dialogue is fast paced and takes some concentration to keep up! 

On the surface, you could take it as an alternative comedy sketch (am I the only one to remember "alternative comedy"?) but under the surface there is so much more going on. Martin's intellect shines out asking big questions about the world and humanity and where we sit in the universe, and yet he does it with laughter and hope. 

This is a comedy that will have you laughing, but also wondering what on earth it is all about! 

*images by Paul Hood

Denise Sparrowhawk